Rapid discharging hopper car door actuating mechanism

ABSTRACT

A mechanism for opening and closing a horizontally hinged door, such as on railroad hopper cars and trucks, having a tie-rod actuating means adapted to be rotatably mounted to a container, a tie-rod pivotally and slidably joined at a first end to the tierod actuating means and joinable at the second end to the door on the container, the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in and between ends of an arcuate sector guide path in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guide path being capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod when the door is open and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximum position thereby rotating the door to which it is attached into closing and locking position, and means at the other end of the guide path which, upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the opposite direction through an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sector guide path and with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod from maximum lifted and locked position to fall unrestrainedly downwardly through the arcuate guide path thereby permitting the door to which it is attached to rotate open rapidly by gravity.

United States Patent. 1 1

Heap 0 1 RAPID DISCHARGING HOPPER'CAR DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISM [75]Inventor: James C. Heap, Munster, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, Chicago Heights, 111.

22 Filed: 0a. 16, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 297,788

[52] US. Cl 105/240, 105/253, 105/290, 105/304, 105/305 [51] Int. ClB6ld 7/04, 861d 7/18, 861d 7/28 [58] Field of Search 105/240, 248, 253,290, 105/304, 305, 307

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,525 6/1903 Trapp 105/290x 2,893,327 7/1959 Lunde 105/290 X 3,187,684 6/1965 Ortner 105/290 X3,373,700 3/1968 DeRiddcr 105/240 3,654,873 4/1972 Floehr l l l 105/2483,675,590 7/1972 Schuller 105/240 3,675,591 7/1972 Nagy et a1 105/2533,710,730 1/1973 Austgen et a1 105/290 X Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. KingAssistant Examiner-Howard Beltram Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Merriam,Marshall, Shapiro & Klose 14 1 June 11, 1974 57 ABSTRACT A mechanism forOpening and closing a horizontally hinged door, such as on railroadhopper cars and trucks, having a tie-rod actuating means adapted to berotatably mounted to a container, a tie-rod pivotally and slidablyjoined at a first endto the tie-rod actuating means and joinable at thesecond end to the door on the container, the first end of the tie-rodbeing slidable in and between ends of an arcuate sector guide path inthe tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guide path beingcapable of limiting downward displacement'of the tie-rod when the dooris open and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation of thetie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximumposition thereby rotating the door to which it is attached into closingand locking position, and means at the other end of the guide pathwhich, upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the oppositedirection through an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sectorguide path and with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the firstend of the tie-rod from maximum lifted and locked position to fallunrestrainedly downwardly through the arcuate guide path therebypermitting the door to which it is attached to rotate open rapidlybygravity.

22 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJuM 1 :914

SHEETIOF 6 PATENTEBJUHH 1914 3815514 SHEET 2 0F 6 Pmmmm 11 m4 3.815514SHEET 30E 6 RAPID DISCHARGING HOPPER CAR DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISMParticulate materials which readily flow are often stored in a hopper ortank. The hopper or tank is often fitted with one or more doors whichclose suitable discharge openings in the hopper or tank through whichthe particulate material can be readily emptied by gravity flow uponopening of the door. Although one or more doors may be used to close anopening, each door is generally rotatably mounted by means of ahorizontal hinge arrangement. Not only are such doors used on stationarytanks and hoppers but they are also widely used on vehicles fortransporting particulate material, such as trucks and railroad hopperand gondola cars.

The priorart discloses various types of apparatus and mechanisms foropening and closing doors which when closed bar flow of a particulatematerial through an, opening in a hopper, tank or other storagecontainer.

Prior art pertaining to apparatus and mechanisms for opening and closingdoors on railroad hopper and gondola cars is as follows: US. Pat. Nos.3,675,590; 3,675,591; 3,654,873 and 3,187,684.

Although the door opening mechanisms of the prior art can be employedfor the intended purpose, it is believed that alternative mechanismscharacterized by unique quick opening features could be advantageouslyemployed, not only on a railroad hopper or gondola car, but also onother vehicles which transport or store particulate material suchasstone, coal, sand, corn cobs, grain, wood chips, ores, plastic pelletsand the like as well as on stationary storage tanks-and hoppers for suchmaterial.

According to one aspect of the invention'there is provided a novelmechanism for quickly opening a horitached into closed and lockedposition over an opening in the storage container, tank or hopper. Themechanism also includes a means at the other end of the guide path whichupon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the'opposite directionthrough an angle defined by the length ofthe arcuate sector guide pathand with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of thetie-rod from maximum lifted and locked position to fall unrestrainedlydownwardly through the arcuate guide path thereby releasing the tie-rodand permitting any door to which it is attached to'rotate open rapidlyby gravity and the force of a particulate load against it. The tie-rodactuating means can comprise specifically a horizontal shaft, an arcuatesector having an arcuate guide path therein mounted on the horizontalshaft, a circular drive gear on the horizontal shaft, said arcuatesector and drivegear rotating in unison on the horizontal shaft, andmeans cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in two directions.

The door opening mechanism provided by this invention is particularlysuitable in use intrucks and railroad vehicles which employ hoppers orother containers for transporting particulate material. The mechanism isreadily installed in such vehicles for opening one or;

more doors horizontally hinged at the bottom of a hopper or othercontainer for closing a gravity discharge opening therein.

The door opening and closing mechanism of this invention can be used toopen and close a single door or a pair of doors which rotate in oppositedirections so 'that they can be opened simultaneously or closedsimultaneously. In addition, the mechanism can be used in a plurality ofinstallations on a vehicle or other stationary apparatus having amultitude of doors to open railroad hopper car equipped with a pluralityof the zontally hinged or pivoted door used to close or seal off adischarge opening in a tank or hopper for particulate material. Themechanism is suitable for use on stationary storage containers as wellas on containers or hoppers located on transport vehicles, such astrucks or railroad cars.

The mechanism of the invention, apart from its installation on acontainer for particulate material, comprises a tie-rod actuatingmeansadapted to be rotatably mounted on a hopper or other storage container,whether stationary or mounted on a vehicle, a tie-rod pivotally andslidably joined at a first end to the tie-rod actuating means andadapted to be joined at the second end to a door which is horizontallyhinged, the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in an arcuate sectorguide path in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guidepath being capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod whena door to which it can be attached is opened and the said same means atthe guide path end upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in onedirection lifts the tie-rod to maximum position to thereby rotate a doorto which it can be atdoor-opening and closing mechanisms of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partially broken away and partiallyin section, of a'door opening mechanism of the invention mounted in thecenter sill of the railroad hopper car of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view like FIG. 2 but with the door openingmechanism rotated to the position where the doors are ready to drop openinstantly by gravity action;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view like FIGS. 2 and 3 but with the doorspartially open and free to fall to fully open position; v

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view much like FIGS. 2-4 but with the doorsfully open and the mechanism positioned to coincide with the doors infully open position;

ship and with greater detail shown for such embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 7'-7 but withthe embodiment of FIGS. 6 to 10 positionedin the center sill;

- FIG. 8 is aview from the bottom upwardly towards to door opening andclosing mechanism shown in FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9--9 of FIG. 6; I

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10 -10 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of a mechanism quite similar to thatshown in FIGS. 2 to except that the mechanism of FIG. 11 does not use anintermediate pinion gear between the rack gear and one of the circulardrive gears.

So far as is practical the same parts or elements which appear in thevarious views of the drawings will be identified by the same numbers.

With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is-illustrated arailroad hopper car comprising a body mounted on conventional wheeltrucks 11. The railroad hopper car body 10 has conventional verticallydisposed side walls terminating at their ends in inclined end wallshaving slope sheets 12 which terminate in a more or less horizontalbottom rectangular area defined by the sidewalls of the car and thebottom of slope end sheets 12. The rectangularbottom area is dividedinto four car emptying areas A, B, C and D. Each of the emptying areasA, B, C and, D is divided in a direction longitudinal to the railroadcar by a center sill 13 which extends the length of the railroad car.Each of. the emptying spaces A, B, C and D has a pair of horizontallyhinged doors l4 and 15 of similar construction. Each door when in closedposition is downwardly sloped to further aid in gravity unloading ofparticulate material transported by the railroad car.

As shown in FIG. 7, door 14 is made in two sections 14a and 14b. Each ofthe door sections is rotatably secured by hinges 141 along its tophorizontal edge to the bottom part of the railroad hopper car. Each doorsection 14a and 14b is joined together by a bar 16 to form a door whichmoves as a unit. The door 15 is in all essential respects identical tothe door 14. Door 15 is also rotatably mounted by hinges 151 to thebottom of the railroad car body shown by FIG. 2. Each of the doors l4and 15 opens and closes one-half of the open spaces A, B, C and D (FIG.1). The construction of such doors is considered conventional and notpart of this invention. The invention, however, is not to be consideredlimited to such specific door structures as described since it isapplicable to many other horizontally hinged door arrangements used toclose discharge openings to prevent flow of particulate-material from a'storage hopper or container.

FIGS. 2 to 5 illustrate one embodiment of a door opening and closingmechanism provided by this invention. Mounted on horizontal shaft 20below center sill 13 is circular gear 2 1. Mounted on the same shaft 20is arcuate sector 22 having a guide path 23. The circular gear 21 andarcuate sector 22 together comprise a tie-rod actuating means which isrotatably mounted on the vehicle. Tie-rod 24 has its upper end 25pivotally and slidably positioned in guide path 23. The lower end 26 oftie-rod 24 is pivotally mounted on arm 27 which extends outwardly anddownwardly from a bar, like bar E6 on door 14, but on door 15. Thetie-rod 24 has a bent portion 28 where it comes into close relationship4 a with hub 29 of arcuate sector 22. The described mechanism whenactivated serves to open and close door 15.

The mechanism used to open and close door 14 is I much like that used toopen and close door 15. Thus.

of tie-rod 34 is pivotally joined to arm 36 which is joined to bar 16(FIG. 7) which unites the two sections of door 14. Tie-rod 34 has a bentportion 37 which projects around hub 38,0f arcuate sector 39.

Gear rack 40 is mounted on the bottom side of beam 41. Between gearrack- 40 and circular gear 30 is posi tioned pinion gear 42. Mounted onthe top of center sill 13, at one end of'the railroad car, is cylinder42' which can be hydraulically or air operated to move rod 43 in or outand thereby, by means of arm 44 joined to the end of rod 43, slide beam41 back and forth as desired to achieve longitudinal movement of gearrack 40. Sliding movement of rack gear 40 causes pinion gear 42 torotate which in turn causes the rotation of circular gear 30 which inturn causes circular gear 21 to rotate although in a direction oppositeto circular gear 30.

FIG. 2, shows the position of the mechanism when doors 14 and 15 areboth closed and the mechanism is in locked position. A locking action isachieved by having the ends of each tie-rod positioned such that a linedrawn through the ends will be on a side ofshaft 20 or 31 to form anovcrccntcr toggle lock, as the case may be, opposite the side on whichthe bent or curved portions 28 or 37 of the respective tie-rod islocated. Movement of the upper end 25 of tie-rod 24 in guide path 23 isbarred by the end of the guide path and by the'bent portion 28contacting hub 29 or by some other suitable stopper arrangement.Movement of tie-rod 34 is similarly barred when the mechanism is inlocked position.

The door opening and closing mechanism. of FIG. 2

effects opening of doors 14 and 15 simultaneously by moving the gearrack 40 to the right. This causes pinion gear 42 to rotate clockwise andfor circular gear 30 to rotate counterclockwise which in turn causescircular gear 21 to rotate clockwise. The counterclockwise movement ofcircular gear 30 results in arcuate sector 39 moving from the positionshown in FIG. 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3. During such movementthe upper end 33 (FIG. 4) of tie-rod 34 remains essentially in the sameposition as it was in FIG. 2. The arcuate sector 39 however movesthrough the entire angle defined by the ends of the guide path 32 andshaft 31. Si-

multaneously, but in an opposite direction there is eff? fected rotationof arcuate sector 22 to the position shown in FIG. 3. This results inangular movement of guide path 23 for about its maximum displacement butwith the upper end 25 of tie-rod 24 remaining in essentially fixedposition during such movement.

After the mechanism has reached the position shown in FIG. 3, only aslight additional rotation of circular gears 30 and 21 is required toplace the upper ends of tie-rods 34 and 24 in a free sliding state inguide paths 32 and 23, respectively. The tie-rods then slide freely asshown in FIG. 4 with the weight of the doors l4 and 15, and the cargopressing against the doors, forcing them open rapidly. Thedoors continuetheir downward rotational opening movement until door 14 hits a springbumper 45 mounted on a base 44. Similarly, door 15 hits the springbumper 46 mounted on base 47. The spring bumpers and 46 prevent undueforce from being applied to the tie-rods 34 and 24 as-the doors swingopen rapidly.

The mechanism described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 closes the doorstightly by reversing the movement of gear rack 40. By pulling gear rack40 to the left, pinion gear 42 is caused to rotate counterclockwise.This causes circular gear 30 to rotate clockwise and to drive circulargear 21 counterclockwise. Arcuate section 39 thus rotates on shaft 31 ina clockwise direction and lifts tie-rod 34 while simultaneously arcuatesector 22 rotates counterclockwise at the same speed and lifts tie-rod24 thereby causing door 15. to be rotated upwardlyat the same rate ofrotation as door 14 is rotated upwardly. The same rate of rotation isguaranteed by gears 21 and 30 which are of the same size. Upwardrotation of the doors continues until they are in closed locked positionas illustrated by FIG. 2.

FIGS. 6 to 10 illustrate a door lifting mechanism similar to themechanism described in FIGS. 2 to 5. However, the mechanism illustratedby FIGS. 6 to 10 is presented in substantially more detail, and with aslightly different proportional relationship between the parts, than themechanism illustrated by FIGS. 2 to 5.

With reference to FIGS. 6 to 10, gear housing is made of two sections 51and 52. The two halves 51 and 52 of the gear housing 50 are heldtogether by bolts 53. The vertical ends of gear housing 50 terminate inflanges 54 and 55 which are bolted respectively to vertically positionedangles 56 and 57 welded to the inside walls of vertical webs 58 and 59of center sill 113 (identical to center sill 13).

Mounted inside of gear housing 50 is a pair of circular gears 60 and 62of equal'size (FIG. 10). Circular gear 60 is mounted on shaft 61 andgear 62 is mounted on shaft 63 (FIG. 9). Shaft 61 rotates in bearing 64mounted in a nose 65 which extends outwardly from gear housing section52. The other end 67 of shaft 61 rotates in bearing 68 in bearing block69 mounted on the bottom surface of flange 70 on the bottom side' edgeof center sill 113. In a similar manner, bearing block 75, mounted onthe bottom surface of flange 76, extending outwardly from wall 59 ofcenter sill 113, supports one end of shaft 63 while the other end of theshaft is supported by a bearing mounted in protruding nose 77 extendingoutwardly from gear housing section 51.

Pinion gear 80 is mounted to rotate on shaft 81 in bearings provided ingear housing sections 51 and 52. Pinion gear 80 has its teeth engagedwith the teeth of circular gear 60 and also with the teeth of gear rack82. Gear rack 82 is mounted on the bottom of beam 83. Beam 83 slidesbetween rollers 84 and 85 held in place by bracket 86. Beam 83 isslidably connected at the end ofa power supply means which can slide thebeam back and forth as desired to operate the door opening and closingmechanism. Cylinder 42' shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 could be used for thispurpose.

Mounted on shaft'63 is arcuate sector which has a guide path 91. Pin 96extends'through guide path 91 and into the ends 93 and 95 of tie-rods 92and 94. The tie-rods 92 and 94 are operatively identical to the tierod24 in the mechanism of FIGS. 2 to 5.'The lower ends of tie-rods 92 and94 are joined to bar 16 joining the two sections 14a and 14b of door 14together.

Arcuate sector is mounted to rotate on shaft 61. The upper ends 101 and103 .of tie-rods 102 and 104 are connected by a pin 105 to the arcuateguide path (not shown) in arcuate sector 100. The lower ends of tie-rods102 and 104 are joined to door 15. The tie-rods 102 and 104 are theequivalent of tie-rod 24 in the mechanism of FIGS. 2 to 5. Also, arcuatesector 100 is the equivalent of arcuate sector 22 in the embodimentshown in FIGS. 2 to 5.

The door opening and closing mechanismdescribed with reference to FIGS.6 to 10 operates in-the same manner as does the embodiment of FIGS. 2 to5 and therefore it will not be described further with respect to itsoperation. v

The mechanism of FIG. 11 shows an alternative arrangement which can beused for opening doors quickly and subsequently closing them. Theelements or parts of the mechanism shown in FIG. 11 are essentiallyidentical to those shown in the mechanism of FIG. 2. However, the piniongear 42 in the mechanism of FIG. 2 is not employed in the mechanism ofFIG. 11. Instead the circular gear 21 is raised and positioned so thatits teeth will directly engage gear rack 40. Of course, the teeth ofcircular gear 21 are positioned to mesh with the teeth of circular gear30. Bypositioning the parts as described, the mechanism of FIG. 11 willoperate in the same way as the mechanism of FIG. 2.

- Regardless of which of the described door opening and closingmechanisms is employed, by using one of the mechanisms for each of thepair of doors 14 and 15 in the railroad hopper car of FIG. 1, each ofthe pairof doors 14 and 15 can be opened simultaneously to empty the carquickly. Opening and closing of the doors can be effected automaticallyas the railroad car is in motion rolling on the rails. A suitabletripmechanism can be employed in order for cylinder 42 to activate thebeam which contains the gear rackused to drive the door opening andclosing mechanism. In this way an entire train of railroad hopper orgondola cars can be automatically emptied while the train is in motionand the doors subsequently closed automatically without stopping thetrain. I

While the specific embodiments of the invention illustrated by thedrawings show how the mechanism can be used to open two adjacent doorssimultaneously, it is within the scope of the invention to employ asingle tie-rod actuating unit comprising for example a single circulargear 30 and arcuate sector 39 to open and close only door 14. Such amechanism would find a number of uses where a single door is to beopened quickly and subsequently closed.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is: 1. In a vehicle for transporting particulate solidmaterial having at least one opening in the bottom, closeable by ahorizontally hinged-door, for gravity discharge of the materialtherethrough, the improvement comprising:-

a tie-rod actuating means rotatably mounted on the vehicle,

' a tie-rod pivotally and slidably joined at a first end to the tie-rodactuating means and joined at the second end to the door,

the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in an arcuate sector guidepath in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guide pathbeing capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod when thedoor is open and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation ofthe tie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod tomaximum overcenter locked position whereby rotating the door intoclosing and locked position, and means at the other end of the guidepath which, upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the oppositedirection through an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sectorguide path and with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the firstend of the tie-rod from maximum lifted and maximum overcenter lockedposition to fall unrestrainedly A downwardly through the arcuate: guidepath thereby releasing the tie-rod and permitting the door to rotateopen rapidly by gravity. a

2. A vehicle according to claim 1 including gear means for driving thetie-rod actuating means.

3. A vehicle according to claim 2' in which the gear means includes acircular gear and a gear rack means for driving the circulargear. I

4. A vehicle according to claim 1 actuating means comprises: i

a horizontal shaft,

an arcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on thehorizontal shaft,

a circular drive gear on the horizontal shaft,

said arcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and

means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in two directions. g

5. A vehicle according to claim 4 in which the vehicle is a railroad carhaving a center sill and the tie-rod actuating means is locatedsubstantially beneath the center sill.

6. A vehicle according to claim 4 in which the tie-rod is bent and whenin maximum overcenter locked position the ends of the tie-rod are in aline which runs on one side of the center of the horizontal shaft andthe adjacent part of the tie-rod is on the other side of the center ofthe horizontal shaft.

7. A vehicle according to claim 4 in which the means cooperating withthe drive gear to rotate it in two directions includes a gear rackslidably mounted on the vehi cle.

8. A vehicle according to claim 7 in which a pinion gear is operablylocated between the gear rack and the circular drive gear.

9. In a vehicle for transporting particulate solid matein whichthetie-rod rial having at least a pair of openings in the bottom,

each opening being closeable by a horizontally hinged door which rotatesin a direction opposite to the other door, for gravity discharge of thematerial therethrough, the improvement comprising:

a pair of tie-rod actuating means rotatably mounted on the vehicle,

means for simultaneously rotatingeach tie-rod actuating meansin'opposite directions and for simultaneously reversing the direction ofrotation thereof,

each tie-rod actuating means having a tie-rod pivotally and slidablyjoined at a first end to the tie-rod means at the other end of the guidepath which, upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the oppositedirection through an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sectorguide path and with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the firstend of the tie-rod from maximum lifted-and locked position to fallunrestrainedly downwardly through the arcuate guide path therebypermitting the door to rotate open rapidly by gravity, said tie-rodsbeing lifted and locked in overcenter position, and subsequentlyreleased, simultaneously.

It). A vehicle according to claim 9 having a plurality of pairs ofbottom openings, with each pair of openings being closeable by separatehorizontally hinged doors operated by a pair of said tie-rod actuatingmeans and tie-rods.

v 11. A vehicle according to' claim 9 including gear means for drivingthe pair of tie-rod actuating means.

12. A vehicle according to claim 11 in which the gear means includes acircular gear and a gear rack means for driving the circular gear. 13. Avehicle according to claim 9 in which each tierod actuating meanscomprises:

a horizontal shaft,

an arcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on thehorizontal shaft,

a circular gear on the horizontal shaft,

said arcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft,- and means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in twodirections.

14. A vehicle according to claim 13 in which the vehicle is a railroadcar having a center sill, and the tierod actuating means are locatedsubstantially beneath the center sill.

15. A vehicle according to claim 13 in which each tie-rod is bent andwhen in locked position the ends of the tie-rod are in a line which runson one side of the center of the horizontal shaft and the adjacent partof the tie-rod is on the other side of the center of the horizontalshaft.

17. A vehicle according to claim 16 in which a pinion gear is operablylocated between the gear rack and the circular drive gear.

18. In a vehicle for transporting particulate solid material having aplurality of pairs of adjacent openings in the bottom, each pair ofopenings being closeable by horizontally hinged doors which rotate indirections opposite to each other, for gravity discharge of the materialtherethrough, the improvement comprising:

a pair of tie-rod actuating means for each pair of doors, rotatablymounted on the vehicle, each tie-rod actuating means having a tie-rodpivotally and slidably joined at a first end to the tie-rod actuatingmeans and joined at the second end to one of the doors of the pair ofdoors, with the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in an arcuatesector guide path in the tie-rod actuating means,

means for simultaneously rotating each tie-rod actuating means of eachpair thereof in opposite directionsand for simultaneously reversing thedirection of rotation thereof,

means at one end of each guide path being capable of limiting downwarddisplacement of the tie-rod slidable therein when the door to which itis at tachedis' open and said same means at the guide path end uponrotation of the tie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts thetie-rod to maximum overcenter locked position thereby rotating the doorinto closing and locked position,

means at the other end of the guide path which, upon rotation of thetie-rod actuating means in the opposite direction-through an angledefined by the length of the arcuate sector guide path and with thetie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod frommaximum lifted and overcenter locked position to fall unrestrainedlydownwardly through the arcuate guide path thereby permitting the door towhich it is attached to rotate open rapidly by gravity. said tie-rodsbeing lifted and locked in overcenter position, and subsequentlyreleased, simultaneously,

and means for simultaneously rotating all tie-rod actuating means. 19. Amechanism for opening and closing a horizontally hinged door comprising:

a tie-rod actuating means adapted to be rotatably mounted to acontainer,

a tie-rod pi'votally and slidably joined at a first end to the tie-rodactuating means and joinable at the second end to a door on thecontainer,

the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in and between ends of anarcuate sector guide path in the tie-rod actuating means,

means at one end of the guide path being capable of.

length of the arcuate sector guide pathand with the tie-rod stationary,forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod from maximum lifted andovercenter locked position to fall unrestrainedly downwardly through thearcuate guide path thereby permitting a door to which it may be attachedto rotate open rapidly by gravity.

20. A mechanism according to claim 19 in which the tie-rod actuatingmeans comprises:

a horizontal shaft,

anarcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on thehorizontal shaft,

a circular drive gear on the horizontal shaft,

said arcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and

means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in two directions.

21. A mechanism for opening and closing a pair of horizontally hingeddoors which rotate in opposite directions comprising:

each tie-rod actuating means having a tie-rod pivotally and slidablyjoined at a first end to the tie-rod actuating means and joinable at thesecond end to one of the doors, with the first end of the tie-rod beingslidable in an arcuate sector guide'path in the tie-rod actuating means,

means at one end of the guide path being capable of limiting downwarddisplacement of the tie-rod when the door to which it may be attached isopen and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation of thetie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximumovercenter locked position thereby being capable of rotating the doorinto closing and locked position, and

means at the other end of the guide path which, upon rotation of thetie-rod actuating means in the opposite direction through an angledefined by the length of the arcuate sector guide path and with thetie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod frommaximum lifted and locked position to fall unrestrainedly downwardlythrough the arcuate guide path thereby permitting a door to which it maybe attached to rotate open rapidly by gravity, said tie-rods beinglifted andlocked in overcenter position, and subsequently released,simultaneously.

22. 'A mechanism according to claim 21 in whic each tie-rod actuatingmeans comprises:

a horizontal shaft,

an arcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on thehorizontal shaft,

a circular gear on the horizontal shaft,

said arcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and

means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in two directions.

V I L1 M IHM I mm L. L llllli CERTIFICATE F CORRECTION Patent-No. 3815,514 Dated June 11, 1974 Inventor) "James C. Heap It is certifiedthat error appeai's in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 5, change "to" to the-; column 7, line 15,

change "wherebf to --thereby Signed and sealed this 1st day of October1974.

(SEAL) At tes t:

? I-COY M. GIBSON JR. C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. In a vehicle for transporting particulate solid material having atleast one opening in the bottom, closeable by a horizontally hingeddoor, for gravity discharge of the material therethrough, theimprovement comprising: a tie-rod actuating means rotatably mounted onthe vehicle, a tie-rod pivotally and slidably joined at a first end tothe tie-rod actuating means and joined at the second end to the door,the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in an arcuate sector guidepath in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guide pathbeing capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod when thedoor is open and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation ofthe tierod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximumovercenter locked position whereby rotating the door into closing andlocked position, and means at the other end of the guide path which,upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the opposite directionthrough an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sector guide pathand with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of thetie-rod from maximum lifted and maximum overcenter locked position tofall unrestrainedly downwardly through the arcuate guide path therebyreleasing the tie-rod and permitting the door to rotate open rapidly bygravity.
 2. A vehicle according to claim 1 including gear means fordriving the tie-rod actuating means.
 3. A vehicle according to claim 2in which the gear means includes a circular gear and a gear rack meansfor driving the circular gear.
 4. A vehicle according to claim 1 inwhich the tie-rod actuating means comprises: a horizontal shaft, anarcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on thehorizontaL shaft, a circular drive gear on the horizontal shaft, saidarcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in twodirections.
 5. A vehicle according to claim 4 in which the vehicle is arailroad car having a center sill and the tie-rod actuating means islocated substantially beneath the center sill.
 6. A vehicle according toclaim 4 in which the tie-rod is bent and when in maximum overcenterlocked position the ends of the tie-rod are in a line which runs on oneside of the center of the horizontal shaft and the adjacent part of thetie-rod is on the other side of the center of the horizontal shaft.
 7. Avehicle according to claim 4 in which the means cooperating with thedrive gear to rotate it in two directions includes a gear rack slidablymounted on the vehicle.
 8. A vehicle according to claim 7 in which apinion gear is operably located between the gear rack and the circulardrive gear.
 9. In a vehicle for transporting particulate solid materialhaving at least a pair of openings in the bottom, each opening beingcloseable by a horizontally hinged door which rotates in a directionopposite to the other door, for gravity discharge of the materialtherethrough, the improvement comprising: a pair of tie-rod actuatingmeans rotatably mounted on the vehicle, means for simultaneouslyrotating each tie-rod actuating means in opposite directions and forsimultaneously reversing the direction of rotation thereof, each tie-rodactuating means having a tie-rod pivotally and slidably joined at afirst end to the tie-rod actuating means and joined at the second end toone of the doors, with the first end of the tie-rod being slidable in anarcuate sector guide path in the tie-rod actuating means, means at oneend of the guide path being capable of limiting downward displacement ofthe tie-rod when the door to which it is attached is open and said samemeans at the guide path end upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating meansin one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximum overcenter locked positionthereby rotating the door into closing and locked position, and means atthe other end of the guide path which, upon rotation of the tie-rodactuating means in the opposite direction through an angle defined bythe length of the arcuate sector guide path and with the tie-rodstationary, forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod from maximumlifted and locked position to fall unrestrainedly downwardly through thearcuate guide path thereby permitting the door to rotate open rapidly bygravity, said tie-rods being lifted and locked in overcenter position,and subsequently released, simultaneously.
 10. A vehicle according toclaim 9 having a plurality of pairs of bottom openings, with each pairof openings being closeable by separate horizontally hinged doorsoperated by a pair of said tie-rod actuating means and tie-rods.
 11. Avehicle according to claim 9 including gear means for driving the pairof tie-rod actuating means.
 12. A vehicle according to claim 11 in whichthe gear means includes a circular gear and a gear rack means fordriving the circular gear.
 13. A vehicle according to claim 9 in whicheach tie-rod actuating means comprises: a horizontal shaft, an arcuatesector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein, on the horizontalshaft, a circular gear on the horizontal shaft, said arcuate sector anddrive gear rotating in unison on the horizontal shaft, and meanscooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in two directions.
 14. Avehicle according to claim 13 in which the vehicle is a railroad carhaving a center sill, and the tie-rod actuating means are locatedsubstantially beneath the center sill.
 15. A vehicle according to claim13 in which each tie-rod is bent and when in locked position the ends ofthe tie-rod are in a line which runs on one side of the center of thehorizontal shaft And the adjacent part of the tie-rod is on the otherside of the center of the horizontal shaft.
 16. A vehicle according toclaim 13 in which the means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate itin two directions includes a gear rack slidably mounted on the vehicle.17. A vehicle according to claim 16 in which a pinion gear is operablylocated between the gear rack and the circular drive gear.
 18. In avehicle for transporting particulate solid material having a pluralityof pairs of adjacent openings in the bottom, each pair of openings beingcloseable by horizontally hinged doors which rotate in directionsopposite to each other, for gravity discharge of the materialtherethrough, the improvement comprising: a pair of tie-rod actuatingmeans for each pair of doors, rotatably mounted on the vehicle, eachtie-rod actuating means having a tie-rod pivotally and slidably joinedat a first end to the tie-rod actuating means and joined at the secondend to one of the doors of the pair of doors, with the first end of thetie-rod being slidable in an arcuate sector guide path in the tie-rodactuating means, means for simultaneously rotating each tie-rodactuating means of each pair thereof in opposite directions and forsimultaneously reversing the direction of rotation thereof, means at oneend of each guide path being capable of limiting downward displacementof the tie-rod slidable therein when the door to which it is attached isopen and said same means at the guide path end upon rotation of thetie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod to maximumovercenter locked position thereby rotating the door into closing andlocked position, means at the other end of the guide path which, uponrotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the opposite directionthrough an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sector guide pathand with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of thetie-rod from maximum lifted and overcenter locked position to fallunrestrainedly downwardly through the arcuate guide path therebypermitting the door to which it is attached to rotate open rapidly bygravity. said tie-rods being lifted and locked in overcenter position,and subsequently released, simultaneously, and means for simultaneouslyrotating all tie-rod actuating means.
 19. A mechanism for opening andclosing a horizontally hinged door comprising: a tie-rod actuating meansadapted to be rotatably mounted to a container, a tie-rod pivotally andslidably joined at a first end to the tie-rod actuating means andjoinable at the second end to a door on the container, the first end ofthe tie-rod being slidable in and between ends of an arcuate sectorguide path in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guidepath being capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod whenthe door is open and said same means at the guide path end upon rotationof the tie-rod actuating means in one direction lifts the tie-rod tomaximum overcenter locked position thereby rotating a door to which itmay be attached into closing and locking position, and means at theother end of the guide path which, upon rotation of the tie-rodactuating means in the opposite direction through an angle defined bythe length of the arcuate sector guide path and with the tie-rodstationary, forces and frees the first end of the tie-rod from maximumlifted and overcenter locked position to fall unrestrainedly downwardlythrough the arcuate guide path thereby permitting a door to which it maybe attached to rotate open rapidly by gravity.
 20. A mechanism accordingto claim 19 in which the tie-rod actuating means comprises: a horizontalshaft, an arcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein,on the horizontal shaft, a circular drive gear on the horizontal shaft,said arcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and means cooperating with the drIve gear to rotate it in twodirections.
 21. A mechanism for opening and closing a pair ofhorizontally hinged doors which rotate in opposite directionscomprising: a pair of tie-rod actuating means adapted to be rotatablymounted on a vehicle, means for simultaneously rotating each tie-rodactuating means in opposite directions and for simultaneously reversingthe direction of rotation thereof, each tie-rod actuating means having atie-rod pivotally and slidably joined at a first end to the tie-rodactuating means and joinable at the second end to one of the doors, withthe first end of the tie-rod being slidable in an arcuate sector guidepath in the tie-rod actuating means, means at one end of the guide pathbeing capable of limiting downward displacement of the tie-rod when thedoor to which it may be attached is open and said same means at theguide path end upon rotation of the tie-rod actuating means in onedirection lifts the tie-rod to maximum overcenter locked positionthereby being capable of rotating the door into closing and lockedposition, and means at the other end of the guide path which, uponrotation of the tie-rod actuating means in the opposite directionthrough an angle defined by the length of the arcuate sector guide pathand with the tie-rod stationary, forces and frees the first end of thetie-rod from maximum lifted and locked position to fall unrestrainedlydownwardly through the arcuate guide path thereby permitting a door towhich it may be attached to rotate open rapidly by gravity, saidtie-rods being lifted and locked in overcenter position, andsubsequently released, simultaneously.
 22. A mechanism according toclaim 21 in which each tie-rod actuating means comprises: a horizontalshaft, an arcuate sector, having the arcuate sector guide path therein,on the horizontal shaft, a circular gear on the horizontal shaft, saidarcuate sector and drive gear rotating in unison on the horizontalshaft, and means cooperating with the drive gear to rotate it in twodirections.